Postcards From the First Day of Summer

1) This is the time of year when the bloom of garden excitement begins to fade. You know, the weeds are coming back after initial clearing but there's not much in the way of food. At least not yet. It appears, though, that my early efforts may pay off in the form of yellow squash. Note to self: look up summer squash recipes.

2) This month's issue of Country Living featured a cover line that read something along the lines of "Summer's Perfect Wine" or somesuch. Turns out the editors have become fond of a particular "summer white" which I have loved for some time.

 We usually pick up a couple cases for summer fun but this year we bought three. One doesn't mess around in the face of media madness, you see. If you were to come to my house for dinner between, say, the end of May and Labor Day this is what I'd pour for you.

At $8ish dollars a bottle, Famega Vinho Verde is hands down the best affordable fizz you'll ever buy. Do you think less of me for waiting to take delivery of my three cases before recommending that you, too, seek it out?





3) I'm reading cookbooks again after a long hiatus. Through a convoluted path I've become a late addition to the Claudia Roden fan club (if there isn't such a thing, there ought to be - Claudia, call me!). Although I am not particular to Spanish cuisine, I'm relishing a slow, deliberate read of The Food of Spain. This book is absolutely amazing. Literally epic in scope, the first 100 or so pages is nothing short of a culinary history textbook. Roden traces Spain's intertwining Christian, Jewish, and Muslim histories that are the underpinning of every summer's breathless tapas articles. Truly extraordinary and I insist that you go buy a copy immediately, if not sooner.

4) We're enjoying a very nice lack of extracurricular activities at the moment. Baseball and dance are over and there's little movement on the scout (girl or cub) front. The next six weeks stretch luxuriously mayhem-free. There are some camps on the calendar, of course (in our town, parents who do not abundantly enrich their offspring during summer break are considered reportable to the U.N.), but until football and cheer begin August, it's nothing but old-fashioned summer fun around here. Firefly-chasing, popsicle-licking, tree-climbing, dog-hugging summer fun.

It's glorious.

Area Real Estate Sales Strengthen in May

Following two months of significantly slower sales activity in March and April wherein sales were approximately 20% below the same months last year, area real estate sales made a stronger comeback May.

Individual unit sales reported through the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board (GTREB) in May were down 5% versus May of 2010, totaling 183 sales compared to 193 sales last year. Sales revenue for the month of $51.2 million was 4% below the $53.5 million worth of properties sold in May of last year. Unlike prior months where higher-end sales drove sales revenue, May saw only one sale reported over $1 million versus 3 sales of $1+ million in May 2010. Nonetheless, sales over $1 million for the year are up 44% with a total of 13 sales in this price range to date.
Following the stronger sales activity in May, the gap in year-to-date dollar sales has narrowed. Sales revenue through the end of May totals $211.2 million compared to $219.4 million worth of properties sold in the first five months of 2010. Unit sales year-to-date however remain well off last year's pace with 698 individual MLS sales reported this year versus 788 through the end of May last year, a decrease in excess of 11%.
Other than Wasaga Beach where unit sales are up 3%, every other local municipality has seen a decrease in unit sales activity year-to-date. Clearview Township -4%, Collingwood -3%, Grey Highlands -10%, Municipality Meaford -37%, The Blue Mountains -14%.
Overall the year appears to be shaping up much like 2009 which saw softer sales activity in the first six months of the year with very robust sales activity through the summer and fall. The latter half of 2010 saw much weaker sales and this has obviously spilled over into 2011.